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Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Bee Keeping in the Blue Mountains - Major Adolphus Shallard

Shallard, like the Wiggins family of Springwood, was a beekeeper or apiarist who lived in Brooklands Road, Glenbrook, in the later part of the nineteenth century. He was the only child of Jane Hatherley of New York, and Joseph Thomas Shallard of Gibbs, Shallard & Co. Printers, who cards, directories and land sales posters among other things.[1]

Adolphus was born in Melbourne in 1863, but received his education at Sydney Grammar.Major was his christian name - rather than a military title - although he did serve with the Mounted Rifles.He was president of the Honey Producers Association of NSW and the Bee-keepers Association and, as well as the Blue Mountains Bee Farm at Glenbrook, he had a honey depot at Leichardt.In fact he was reputed to have had over 850 hives.However, the Nepean Times reported in July 1896, that Shallard had removed his hives from Glenbrook to the Richmond River where a new farm had been established.The Glenbrook property is thought to have been purchased from Mr. W. Garrett in 1887.Garrett was another early bee-keeper.[2]

He boasted in an advertisement in the Australian Agriculturalist in the 1890s that he built up the largest bee concern in Australia without keeping poor stock.Later, through assistance from his sons, Shallard had approximately 3000 hives.

Shallard was a tall colourful character and was reputed to have been an all round sportsman expert in boxing, swimming and rowing.Prior to his bee-keeping venture, he worked in his father’s printing business but was forced to give that away due to lead poisoning from the type.He became perhaps the leading exponent for the success of honey production.He fought for a centralised Honey Marketing Board to help alleviate some of the costs borne by small producers. Shallard, who was reputed to have been a correspondent of Sir Winston Church, died in June 1943.